3 ways to embrace sustainable thinking in your direct mail marketing

Every form of mass communication has an environmental impact – whether a digital ad, email, online video, postcard or billboard. For brands and organizations that embrace direct mail, sustainable innovation is always top of mind.

Chapter 10 of the Essential Guide to Direct Mail explores best practices for injecting sustainability into your next direct mail campaign. If you’re already using direct mail – or are considering it in your mix – here are 3 ways to bring sustainable thinking into your marketing:

1. Leverage print partners 

You don’t need to be a paper expert! Partnering with a trusted printer and mail service provider provides your team with the professional advice and insight required to run more successful and sustainable campaigns.

Nearly all Canadian printers use vegetable-based and/or water-based inkjet inks. Find a partner whose staff are dedicated to sustainability issues, are Chain of Custody certified, have some approach to carbon mitigation and utilize independent third-party standards to certify efforts.

Trusted guidance throughout every stage eases the process in so many ways.

2. Become a student of sustainability

Sustainability is a dynamitic area of thinking and action, so take every opportunity to discover more about the latest research or solutions around sustainability and direct mail.

Read the latest research below and strengthen your knowledge of direct mail by understanding more about its sustainable qualities. Read about FSC Certified paperboard that is 100% recyclable, or experiment with biodegradable paper embedded with seeds for planting.

Don’t be afraid to test out options that might help your marketing speak to audiences in new ways. Remember, every great idea was an untested new idea at one point.

3. Target the right audience

Optimize your campaign by analyzing your first-party data using key characteristics like lifestyle and demographics to fully understand who your best customers are. With this information, you can identify and target prospects with similar traits, avoid mailing to low-probability customers, target the audience most likely to act on your mail piece and eliminate unnecessary waste.

This blog is the one of 6 highlighting the power of direct mail for your marketing.